FISHER/McKEON SEEK TO REPLENISH FLOOD-PRONE PROPERTY BUYOUT FUND

Assemblymen Team with Environmentalists, Flood Victim to Underscore Importance Of Renewing Garden State Preservation Trust

(FAIRFIELD) - Teaming with leading environmentalists and a Fairfield woman whose home was flooded by last month's record-setting nor'easter, Assemblymen Douglas H. Fisher and John F. McKeon today called for renewal of a state land preservation fund, a portion of which would be used to finance voluntary acquisitions of flood-prone properties across the state.

"Last month's flooding underscores all the more why New Jersey residents can't afford to have the Garden State Preservation Trust Fund run dry," said Fisher (D-Cumberland), prime sponsor of bipartisan legislation (ACR-10) that would dedicate $175 million in annual sales tax revenue to keep the land acquisition fund going into the next decade.

"The Garden State Preservation Trust Fund is a viable financial life raft that could be used for decades to help homeowners and communities affected by floods that want to mitigate the threat of future flooding," said McKeon (D-Essex), chairman of the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee and a sponsor of the GSPT renewal legislation.

Joining Fisher and McKeon in calling for a new GSPT funding mechanism were Ella Filippone of the Passaic River Basin Coalition, Dave Pringle of the NJ Environmental Federation, Jeff Tittel of the New Jersey Sierra Club, and Kitty O'Neill, a Fairfield resident who lives in a neighborhood that is often flooded in major rain events like last month's nor'easter.

The GSPT - the largest state land preservation fund of its kind in the country - provides money to preserve open space, farmland and historical sites.  The trust fund renewal legislation, however, also would provide new financing for the state's Blue Acres program that is used to acquire flood-prone properties from residents who voluntarily want to sell their homes.

"With the threat of global warming and the constant development pressures in the nation's most-densely populated state, New Jersey needs Blue Acres funding more than ever," said Fisher.

Blue Acres is a voluntary buyout program of flood-prone properties created through a 1995 bond act and administered by the state Department of Environmental Protection's Green Acres program.  The 1995 bond referendum provided $15 million for inland flood property acquisitions, notably homes in the Passaic River Basin floodway.

That allocation resulted in the acquisition and demolition of 126 properties from willing sellers.

While the funding has been expended, the DEP has a list of at least 50 individuals who have expressed interest in the buyout program..

"More than ever, there is a demonstrated need for Blue Acres funding," said McKeon.  "The Passaic River Basin in particular is in need of this financing.  But as the recent storm demonstrated, every region of the state is being impacted by an increased threat of flooding"

The Fisher/McKeon backed measure would ask voters this November to amend the state Constitution to dedicate $175 million in state sales tax proceeds to the trust fund each year from 2009 through 2038.  The trust fund would issue up to $1.75 billion in bonds by 2018, using the sales tax dedication to repay the debt.

The measure would expand the state's existing GSPT program to support critical environmental needs like Blue Acres including:

Operation & maintenance:  Direct local governments to implement operation and maintenance program that would improve public access to state and local parks and other open space areas preserved under the GSPT program;

Administration:  Provide funding to ensure that programs have sustainable funding that would not be hampered by the potential of future budget shortfalls.

The measure boasts 42 bipartisan sponsors. 

The GSPT program has preserved over 292,650 acres of land across New Jersey since the program began in 1998.

If the GSPT is left unfunded, counties, municipalities and non-profits would loose an estimated 65 percent of their state funding. Without the GSPT, nearly $440 million of projects that have already been approved for preservation would be left unfunded.

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